Farewell flowers
by kirayasha aka kira
Summary: Ritsu has a painful moment of farewell... *CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR VOLUME 22 OF THE MANGA* Written for LJ's FB fic comm.


Title: Farewell flowers  
Author: kira  
Rating: teen  
Word Count: 690  
Summary: Ritsu has a painful moment of farewell... *CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR VOLUME 22 OF THE MANGA*

Author's note: Please be aware that this is my interpretation of events that happened in volume 22 of the manga, therefore it contains SPOILERS. Dialogue and inner monologues come from there as well, with a few exceptions.

_Thanks as always to my beta, Jen, for not only pinking this, but suggesting it when I said I wanted to write about Ritsu..._

888

Ritsu sat in his room, which was decorated with several flower arrangements, placing some cut flowers into a vase. He had recently discovered the art of ikebana and the age old art form did wonders for his perpetually frazzled nerves. This time, however, he chose to simply place the large roses haphazardly into a vase. His mother loved the fat blooms, with their rich ruby red color and instead of leaving them in one of the inn's many hallway niches; he decided to bring them to his mother's office instead.

As he picked up the arrangement, Ritsu felt a strange sense of extreme loneliness come over him for a brief minute or two. He left his room, walking as careful as he could down the empty corridors so as not to damage the vase or the beautiful roses it held. Luckily, it did not take him long to reach his mother's office without incident.

Once there, he slid the door slowly back, stepping inside.

His mother, who sitting behind her desk, looked up from the paperwork she had just finished. "Hello, Ritsu," she said softly. The two of them stared at each other for several tense moments, each afraid of disturbing the other.

"Okaasan..." he finally said before they both chorused, "I'M SORRY!! I DIDN'T MEAN TO BOTHER YOU!! FORGIVE ME?!"

Taking a deep, cleansing breath, mother and son attempted to calm down. They smiled weakly at each other.

"They're beautiful, Ritsu."

"Thank you..." he said softly when the same feeling of intense loneliness washed over him again. Ritsu frowned. Ignoring it, he said, "Why don't I put them on your desk that's if they won't be in the way and I'm not disturbing you...? Or I could always put them over here..." He walked over to a small niche and set the vase down._ Tohru-san says I must do my best to be calm... I think she'd be very proud of me too... _He smiled happily. Closing his eyes he felt another wave of loneliness wash over him. It was quickly dismissed when his mother spoke, sending little waves of anxiety coursing through him.

"Please do... I'm sorry if you think you're disturbing me," his mother hastened to apologize. "But you're not! Please put them here..." She moved the papers on her desk, making room for the vase. _What a thoughtful boy I have..._ she thought warmly. Despite her son's frazzled nerves, or her own subsequent nervousness from constantly apologizing for his clumsiness, she adored him in her own fashion unlike most of the mothers of zodiac children.

Ritsu nodded, and picking up the vase from niche, he turned to face her just as another stab of loneliness hit him, the intensity of that feeling overwhelming him. He paused, before attempting to go on as if nothing was wrong. Ritsu got as far as two steps forward when he could not take it any more. The vase fell, shattering into a million pieces amongst the flowers at his feet. _Good bye..._The thought jumped unbidden into his head as his mother came running.

"Wh... what's wrong?" his mother called out. "RITSU?!" she shouted, her heart in her throat. "Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you?" she softly added.

Her son slowly looked up at her, his eyes full of tears. _Good bye...It's lonely to say good bye..._

"Ritsu...?" she said softly, the look in his eye strangely calming her down.

"Good bye..." he whispered. "Good bye, Akito-sama..." He closed his eyes, feeling oddly alone for the first time in his life. The familiar thrum of Akito's presence was gone in a single heartbeat. He simply stood there, unable to move under the intensity of the nothingness that now surrounded him. His mother forgotten, Ritsu reached out with his mind, trying to grasp the link that had been there almost since his conception, and finding nothing._ Where are you, Akito-sama...?_

_Good bye..._

Ritsu heard it at last, Akito's soft silken whisper that tickled the edges of his soul. _Good bye..._ there was more than a hint of sadness to it and he felt bad for his god.

_Good bye, Akito-sama... _


End file.
